The Wildcats took the lead (18-16) for good late in the first quarter on a Nick Godzyk (13 points) layup.

This was a game of layups and 3’s with very little in between.

The Clippers ran into dry spells in the middle quarters and couldn’t muster the firepower to recover in the final quarter.

Newburyport did put together a 9-1 run late to get to within four (60-56) with forty-six seconds left. Layups by Eric Meyer, Chris Jayne, and Brett Fontaine plus a Chris Jayne trey provided the points. However, Vinny Scifo (7 points) and Tim McCarthy (21 points) answered with six straight free throws to clinch the win for the Wildcats.

Tim McCarthy was impressive. The Wilmington junior guard did not force his offense and set up several teammates for layups. He nailed four 3’s and was 5-for-5 from the foul line. He was an important part of the consistent offense Newburyport faced.

I mentioned two runs doing Newburyport in. The first one was 10-3 in the second period. Nick Godzyk and James Wilkinson put up the points for the Wildcats. Nick had a three off the backboard in the mix. I guess that’s when you know, as an opponent, that you may be in trouble.

Newburyport trailed 30-21 after that run.

The killer run started late in the 3rd quarter and went almost six minutes into the final period. Newburyport was held to four points (Eric Meyer free throw & Matt Leavitt three) while the Wildcats collected thirteen points.

I mentioned Wilmington’s consistency. During the 13-4 run, five different players contributed points. The Clippers had only twelve turnovers during the game but five of them were during this 13-4 run including three in a row early in the 4th period.

Newburyport faced a solid man-to-man defense the whole game yet with their outside weave and slashes to the basket opened up some good shots. Wilmington turned up enough open shots to generate the runs that won the game for them.